I think yesterday was the first work day that I was not able to practice at all. I had three major deadlines on Monday, and still got in the practice room that day for about 90 minutes. Yesterday, though, it was catch up on course prep and meetings, and I was so tired after work that I fell asleep on the couch at 8pm. My first response is disappointment and frustration, but I have to move forward and accept this new day. So, I am on my way to practice now, before heading to campus for the day. 😉
4-mallets/Surface Drifts
Warmup/Improvisation/Technique – started with flowing chordal variations with 212343 sticking, moved to linear folk-ish melodies, then started playing chord progressions attempting to sing various notes of the chord while playing others – working on ear, ability to harmonize, etc. Then played Ewazen marimba concert chorale, singing the alto line, rather than the soprano melody. Wow, (vocally) that was not easy!
Surface Drifts grace notes (finally!!) – ALL HANDS SEPARATE, focused on learning/memorizing grace notes in m. 40; worked on grace notes in all other measures.
5s – played through all 5s; then, worked on m. 72, m . 53, and mm. 56-60, beat-by-beat at 70bpm, then focusing on most difficult transitions with metronome at 65bpm (at times hand separate)
